Crossing The Lines
by spliced teacup
Summary: Genderswap fic. Slight Lightning/Hope. In which the boundaries between male and female are observed and possibly crossed.


He couldn't take it anymore, Snow was far behind him and so was Vanille and Sazh, leaving only Hope. The sun was setting and they needed a place to stay, along with kindling for a fire. The girl in question was lagging behind and generally making a complete nuisance of herself. She couldn't keep up with Lightning, stumbled on every damn thing on the trail and complained. Lightning stopped abruptly and addressed the girl, telling her if they didn't find any kindling they'd probably freeze to death. She went quiet for a few minutes, as if deep in thought.

"Don't look," she said with finality.

For the first time since abandoning the others, Lightning looked at her and what he saw was this insecure little brat of a girl too shy when confronted by a male of his calibre. Hope was a slim girl with an abnormally pale complexion, unlike those pin-up girls with big breasts, luscious curves and tanned skin that Lightning was used to seeing being flashed around his fellow soldiers during their breaks, probably a late bloomer too. She pulled off her jacket before turning around, from where Lightning stood he could see scrunched up rolls of toilet paper being pulled out and dropped to the ground. When Hope finally finished emptying out her bra, she was at least two cup-sizes too small for it. Lightning had heard of girls doing things like this just to fit in and often thought it a pathetic thing for a girl to do.

He collected up the tissue paper, while Hope tried to adjust her bra. "If you can't fit into it, take it off."

She squeaked at this, embarrassed by Lightning's bluntness on the subject but having no other options, obeyed. She moved towards the pile of debris they had stopped beside and pulled down the top part of her dress in order to take off her bra. Lightning (using one of the flints he'd packed before telling his boss off) began to make a fire. The toilet paper made for good kindling, a few sparks set it off. Hope came back from her hiding place behind the twisted pieces of metal, trying in vain to stuff the bra into her handbag. In frustration, she tossed the article of clothing into the fire, parked herself far away from Lightning as she could before collapsing into a fitful of sobs. Lightning pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation, he couldn't understand girls in general but this one in particular was baffling beyond belief, why did she follow him? It would've been easy enough to follow Sazh and Vanille, they were the sympathetic kind of people that Hope could identify with. As much as Lightning wanted to abandon the girl, she wasn't educated enough to be on her own. If she was willing to learn, adapt to the environment she was in, it would've made her presence a little more bearable.

He had his own problems to worry about, though. There was the question of getting to Eden without being detected and how much time he had to actually get there. Snow was in another category all together, with her brash arrogance, the assumption that she could handle everything and everyone. Lightning didn't have time to patronize Hope's trivial insecurities of being a girl and a l'Cie.

"Here."

The girl's voice snapped Lightning out of his thoughts. Hope still looked like a mess but at least she had stopped crying for now, her orange sweater was back on and in her hand was a stick of gum, held out like a peace offering. Lightning shoved the gum away from himself. He knew the girl meant well all the same and instead fished out a cigarette in his pockets, carefully letting the fire graze the tip of it. He took a few experimental puffs from the cigarette, jamming it into the side of his mouth once he was sure it was lit properly.

"It's all I have," she sniffed.

"You done? Crying, I mean," he said through the smoke.

"I guess."

They lapsed into a sombre stalemate, Lightning content with the silence and distance he was so used to. Hope trying to keep her distance from the man and his smoke. Truth be told, Hope felt a little ruffled at Lightning's presence. He wasn't grabby or as chatty as Vanille was but he was an aggressive male, which made him all the more intimidating, an ideal soldier with an iron will that reminded Hope of her mother. He had pink hair and though it would've looked unusual on any other man, it suited Lightning. She wanted to be strong, but that would be a steep learning curve. Hope wasn't too sure if Lightning would be willing to teach her, he was too immersed in his own problems, all the adults seemed to be. If she volunteered herself maybe Lightning would be willing to teach her.

Lightning took another drag from his cigarette, he'd reached a decision. "Listen, I can't keep babysitting you. This is where you and I part ways, you can do what you want."

He picked up his things, putting out the cigarette on the heel of his shoe. Hope felt completely devastated as her only source of protection prepared to walk away without her, she wanted to say something to him but his mind was made up, nothing would've have made him stay. As Lightning turned to leave, he felt a burning sensation on his chest where his mark was, manifesting itself into physical power that enveloped him. He could only watch helplessly as the power became a solid being that reached out to the girl, scattering the embers of the now dying fire. The girl leapt away from the monster's grip. She cast a few blizzard spells trying to keep the creature at bay, healing Lightning when it felt safe to do so. This was it, her chance to prove herself as his equal, and she wouldn't squander it.

Lightning picked himself off to join Hope, taking a good look at the creature. It was a large human-shaped thing with armour. Electricity pulsed through it, as the monster took another swipe at the girl with its monstrously big sword, scattering rose petals. Lightning grabbed his own sword from its holster, switching it to a pistol and shot a few warning rounds at the thing but it seemed more interested in the girl as it lurched to where she was.

Hope tossed a few fire spells, hoping the brunt of it would stagger the monster enough to gain some distance from it. Lightning leaped up on the thing, digging his blade into the armour. It swayed this way and that, Hope looked on in horror as the man and the metallic monster swung in a macabre dance. She watched Lightning slip, tossed off of it like a bucking bronco and aimed a well-timed thunder spell at it.

It staggered at the strength of the blow, she hit him with another thunder spell and a fire for good creature flared up, rose on his haunches but collapsed, disappearing just as abruptly as he had come.

She offered her hand to Lightning who was on the ground where the creature had left him and genuinely impressed by her quick thinking. He grabbed her hand and pulled himself up, dusting himself off. He whispered a gruff thank you to Hope, volunteering himself as her teacher. He gave her a rough pat on the head in acknowledgment. A little dizzy from the touch, she followed Lightning towards the Gapra Whitewoods, where she would hone her skills and finally confront Snow.


End file.
